The Seattle Mariners haven’t been able to enjoy the Jarred Kelenic they hoped they traded for a few years ago.
He was strong in September last year, but had a rough season otherwise (.615 OPS and a couple of minor league stints).
Since he was brilliant in the final month, many fans (and the Mariners’ front office) believed he had figured things out, but he came out struggling right out of the gate in 2022.
After a prolonged slump, he was sent down in the first half.
He has a .903 OPS in Triple-A this season, but just a .463 mark in the bigs.
Called up to the majors again in the past few days, he is in need of a big confidence booster to keep going.
Thankfully, he had one on Wednesday afternoon.
“Jarred Kelenic goes deep! The Mariners have hit three home runs off of Gerrit Cole in the first inning to make it 6-0!” Talkin’ Baseball tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.
Jarred Kelenic goes deep! The Mariners have hit three home runs off of Gerrit Cole in the first inning to make it 6-0! pic.twitter.com/YmzX5UUXWa
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 3, 2022
Kelenic Needs Confidence To Succeed
In fact, they ambushed Cole with six runs in the first frame of today’s game.
Kelenic was responsible for two of those runs with his big blast to right field.
Cole knew the ball was gone off the bat, as he turned around and rested his hands on his legs in disappointment.
It was Kelenic’s fourth home run of the season in MLB.
However, even after the blast, his OPS is still a highly disappointing .510.
He is hitting .135/.208/.302.
If he can manage to replicate his Triple-A success in the stretch run for the Mariners, their rest-of-the-season (and playoff) outlook will be much, much brighter.
He is still a big part of their future.
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